DOTDOTDOTS

In 1977, I had a dream to earn a Bachelor’s Degree, no matter what it took. Three decades later, after recovering from a tragic car accident just out of high school, marrying a wonderful husband, having two great kids, experiencing an amazing career in advertising/marketing/publicity and earning over 90 of the required units at night, I finally fulfilled that dream last May (2007) from a university.

As a full-time student, I earned the coveted title of "Homecoming Queen" at a California community college 1977 in my first semester. The remarkable thing is that only a year before I had been in a serious car accident that killed my best friend and the doctors told me I would never walk again. I actually had the "light at the end of the tunnel experience" where I literally died and came back by the grace of God.

In 1978 at the tender age of 19, I started working full-time as a payroll department assistant in the entertainment business and thus began a long journey into the night as I put in over 12 years of school during the evening in pursuit of my dream.

After earning my GE degree mostly in evening classes, I went on to enroll at a university (again as a night student) with the goal of receiving a Bachelor's degree.

Over the next ten years, I got married, had kids, and rose to one of the top fifteen jobs at a company, reporting directly to the chairman. At that time, I had a two-year old and was running a very high profile department, and I didn't really see the need to complete the few final classes I needed to graduate.

I went on to hold many top management spots in advertising, marketing and promotion. When I landed in my current media relations position, I decided it was time to take care of some unfinished business and returned to school in fall 2005 to complete what I had started nearly three decades earlier.

A month before graduation, I had to wait in a long, winding line with my fellow graduates to confirm the spelling of my name for the diploma and rent my cap and gown. Wincing, I realized that I looked like a teacher to over 90% of the students in line rather than one of their peers.

When I finally reached the table to check the spelling of my name, I was sure it wouldn't be on the roster. It had taken so long…could it really be happening? When I looked down and saw it plainly there in print, I burst into tears. I had really done it! The poor girl at the front table was shocked and did her best to comfort me.

"You don't understand," I bawled. "It took me 30 years to see this. I am really graduating." I had to go outside and gather my wits before I could back in and rent my cap and gown.

I am back in school now and hope to obtain a master’s degree in Media Psychology (but like in my past, probably one class at a time). Although the knowledge will no doubt enhance (or at the very least, impact) my career, my ultimate desire is to apply the gifts I have been given to a socially rewarding cause. In the end, the goal is to combine this extended knowledge with my experience and make a significant impact on society in a more meaningful way than just influencing people through programs created solely for entertainment.

After all, as George Eliot says, “It is never too late to become what you might have been.”